


A Short Tale of One Accidental Death, One Cunning Plan and a Small Fish

by learashi



Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 04:42:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11223561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/learashi/pseuds/learashi
Summary: "What am I going to do? Nino will kill me," Jun said as he desperately clutched at Aiba's arms.





	A Short Tale of One Accidental Death, One Cunning Plan and a Small Fish

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [关于一次意外死亡、一个巧妙计划和一条小鱼的简单物语](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11384163) by [wongenglove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wongenglove/pseuds/wongenglove)



> Happy Birthday Neen! I apologise in advance for this crack-filled fluff-fest, but I am away from home on holiday at the moment and feeling slightly displaced.

"Aiba, you have to help me. I think Oh-chan is dying," Jun said breathlessly into the phone trying to keep his hysteria under control.  
  
By the time Aiba arrived it was already too late and Oh-chan was gone.  
  
"What am I going to do? Nino will kill me," Jun said as he desperately clutched at Aiba's arms.  
  
"How on earth did this happen?" Aiba asked in a stern voice as he examined the limp body.  
  
"I was running late this morning and when I went to give him his breakfast the lid fell off the container of food and it kind of all fell in at once. I fished out as much as I could but I didn't have time to do anything else. I thought it might be ok but when I came home he was like this," Jun said, his voice rising in pitch as he began to panic.  
  
Aiba looked down at the little goldfish lying on the palm of his hand, its colours already dimming and he shook his head and wondered exactly how Jun was going to tell Nino that his beloved pet was dead.  
  
++++  
  
It had started as a joke really. Their latest MV was being filmed at a genuine carnival and Jun had managed to win a goldfish during a lull in the action and had laughingly presented it to Nino as a gift.  
  
Nino had instantly noticed its resemblance to Arashi's leader as he watched it slowly circle around its small bowl with pouting lips and a slightly vacant expression.  
  
The fish was immediately christened "Oh-chan" and declared to be the new group mascot.  
  
Nino then set about finding a home for his new pet. Sho wouldn't have time to care for it, Aiba's cat would probably eat it and Ohno would forget about it and possibly let it starve to death, so somehow it ended up at Jun's place.  
  
"Why not your own place, Nino?" Jun asked in irritation as Nino thrust the bowl into his hands when they were packing up for the day.  
  
"You always tell me that my apartment is unhygienic. You wouldn't want little Oh-chan here to catch some sort of disease from it would you?" Nino said in his most persuasive tones. "I mean, look at how well you care for your bonsai. You have the magic touch," he added with a winning smile.  
  
"Fine, but you have to buy the food and clean the tank out at least once a week," Jun said as he stared into the bowl and the small orange fish stared blankly back at him. “And I will be buying a better tank and sending you the bill. It’s unfair to keep him in this tiny bowl.”  
  
Nino was more than happy to agree even if it was going to cost him money. The fish provided the perfect opportunity to spend more time with Jun, something that he had been trying to do for months. No matter how many subtle hints he had been sending towards Jun regarding his desire to have him kiss him senseless before ripping all of his clothes off, the message just didn't seem to be getting through.  
  
++++  
  
The welfare of the goldfish was Nino's perfect excuse to start worming his way into Jun's affections.  
  
Wanting to make a good impression on his first visit, he turned up at Jun's door carrying a six pack of beer in one hand and a brightly coloured tank ornament for Oh-chan in the other.  
  
Jun put the beer in the refrigerator and bent down to the coffee table where the fishbowl was presently sitting and tried to decide the best position for the new toy. Nino was mesmerized by the sight of Jun's ass swaying from side to side as he made up his mind.  
  
++++  
  
Jun had been running extremely late when he remembered that the fish needed to be fed. His alarm had failed to go off and he had been so deeply asleep after an extra late finish the night before that his manager had tried ringing him three times from the car before he’d muzzily answered. Never a morning person at the best of times it had been a struggle to go from deep sleep to out the door in less than ten minutes. He was just about to put his shoes on when he’d spied a flash of orange out of the corner of his eye and remembered Oh-chan.  
  
He rushed over to the fish that as always was looking blankly back at him and waving his fins sluggishly and shook the canister of food over the tank. To his horror the whole top came off emptying the entire contents into the bowl. After a dash to the kitchen to retrieve a strainer he hastily scooped out as much of the food as he could, but he really didn’t have enough time to get it all out. Feeling guilty he was practically dragged bodily out of the apartment by his stressed manager, leaving the water looking quite cloudy but he hoped that it would settle after a while.  
  
Jun soon forgot all about it as he became immersed in his work. It was only when he was dropped off at home and switched on the lights and saw the bowl that he remembered. The water was still looking very murky and as he got closer he could see that the fish didn’t look right at all.  
  
Feeling very stupid, he somehow couldn’t bring himself to go any closer; instead he grabbed his phone and rang Aiba who was his go to person in a crisis when Nino was involved.  
  
++++  
  
"Nino, can you come to my apartment right now?"  
  
"Jun, are you ok? Why do you sound like you've been crying?" Nino asked, concerned by the tremor in Jun's voice.  
  
"I - there's something I need to tell you, and its better if I do it in person."  
  
"I'll be right there."  
  
While Jun was waiting for Nino arrived he paced restlessly around his living room trying to avoid looking at the match box that contained Oh-chan's remains, the guilt of his actions almost threatening to overwhelm him. Aiba had advised that he should get it over with straight away after vetoing Jun's suggestion that he should just buy a replacement fish and hope that Nino didn't notice the difference. Jun had soon realized that it was a stupid idea - if Nino loved his fish as much as he thought he did he would know straight away and then hate him for trying to trick him on top of murdering his pet.  
  
Jun’s eyes were red rimmed when he let Nino into the apartment which made Nino even surer that he had been crying.  
  
“Jun? What’s wrong? Has something happened to you?” Nino asked as Jun led him over to the sofa. There was something different about the room that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But at the moment Jun was his major concern.  
  
“You’re going to hate me,” Jun said with a nervous twisting of his hands.  
  
A dozen different scenarios ran through Nino’s mind in a split second, but the one thing that he didn’t think of were the words that Jun said next.  
  
“I didn’t mean to kill him. You have to believe me,” Jun blurted.  
  
“Killed who?” Nino squawked, his heart almost beating its way out of his chest.  
  
“Oh-chan,” Jun said before bursting into tears.  
  
“WHAT?” Nino was hyperventilating by now. Admittedly he hadn't seen Arashi's leader since a shared interview that morning but he had seemed perfectly fine then.  
  
“Too much food fell in his tank,” Jun said, seemingly oblivious to Nino’s impending hysteria. He pointed to the little box sitting on the table next to the fish tank adding, “He’s in there.”  
  
Nino’s heart rate returned to something closer to normal as he realised that Ohno was fine and why things had looked different in the room. The tank was missing the dopey little orange blob that was usually lying on the pebbles at the bottom and the water was strangely murky.  
  
Never one to miss out on a opportunity, Nino decided to make the most of the situation. He felt bad for Jun and wasn’t even particularly bothered by the loss of the fish, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try and move things forward between them.  
  
"My fishie is dead?" Nino hadn't won numerous best actor awards for nothing, and as he turned abruptly away from Jun he worked very hard to make a single tear teeter on the edge of his eyelashes as he released a muffled sob.  
  
Jun immediately leaped to his aid, pulling him to his chest in a tight hug as he murmured consoling words into Nino's dark hair.  
  
Nino whimpered and hugged Jun tightly back in return, getting a good feel of the strong muscles in Jun's back as he did so.  
  
Jun tilted Nino's face upwards so he could see him clearly, and he looked so small and sad that Jun was compelled to kiss his trembling lips after softly brushing the tear from Nino’s pale cheek with the tip of his finger. Nino kissed him back shyly and soon the kiss deepened as their tongues sought each other out.  
  
"Please let me stay. I don't want to be alone tonight," Nino pleaded in a tiny voice as he clung tightly to Jun, pressing himself against his body as if seeking physical comfort.  
  
There was no way for Jun to refuse, and he soon led Nino to his bedroom.  
  
Much later that night while a naked Jun slept peacefully beside him, a drowsy Nino, whose body was still humming with pleasure, sent up a silent prayer of thanks to his ex-fish. Things had worked out better than he had ever dared to hope.  
  
++++  
  
When Nino woke the next morning Jun’s side of the bed was already cold. After a quick shower Nino shuffled out to the kitchen where Jun was frenziedly preparing enough breakfast to feed at least six people.  
  
“Hungry after all that exercise?” Nino asked with a snicker as he wrapped his arms around Jun’s slim waist and nuzzled his back.  
  
To his dismay Jun flinched and pulled away from Nino’s touch, the tips of his ears turning red.  
  
“Jun? Did I do something wrong?” Nino asked in confusion.  
  
“Not you. Me…You were upset and I took advantage of you when you weren’t in control of your feelings. I-I’m a horrible person...” Jun’s shoulders shook slightly and his voice trembled. “I lost control of my emotions but I promise that it won’t happen again.”  
  
Nino’s heart sank. “But I want it to!” he blurted.  
  
Normally Nino wouldn’t just say the first thing that came to mind, he was much more clever and wily than that, but the shock of thinking that all of his hard work was about to go to waste and the tingles that were still running through his body from the night before made him imprudent and the next batch of words spewed out of his mouth before he could stop them.  
  
“I’ve been trying to get you into bed for months and I finally succeeded and you want to stop? Why else do you think I spent so much time visiting that stupid fish? Did you honestly think that I had feelings for it?”  
  
Jun’s eyes narrowed with rage, his face blanching at the thought that Nino had been making a fool of him for weeks with the sole intention of fucking him.  
  
"It’s you that I wanted to visit, not Oh-chan,” Nino said; looking at Jun with puppy eyes.  
  
Jun glared at Nino "You let me worry myself to death about accidentally killing Oh-chan when you were in reality only using him as a means to get into my pants?"  
  
"Well, it worked didn't it?" Nino joked as he tried to rub seductively up against his enraged lover.  
  
To his great disappointment Jun pushed him away, before grabbing him by the arm and shoving him unceremoniously out the front door.  
  
“Jun, open this door,” Nino hissed as he banged on the door.  
  
The door opened a crack and Nino’s shoes flew out narrowly missing his face before closing again.  
  
There was no way that now he had finally made progress with his relationship with Jun he was going to give up that easily. No matter how humiliating it was going to be for him personally, Jun was worth fighting for.  
  
Nino recommenced banging on the door while yelling “I am prepared to stand here all day and make lots of noise until you let me in. I’m sure your neighbours will find it very interesting,”  
  
There was no response from Jun, but Nino could sense him standing on the other side of the door. In a quieter voice he said “Jun please give me a chance to explain. I mean it when I say I’m not going to leave. Your friendship means too much to me. _You_ mean too much to me.”  
  
The door slowly opened and Jun gestured at Nino to enter but he didn’t look any happier at the prospect of having him there than before.  
  
++++  
  
“Jun, will you at least sit down so I can talk to you properly?” Nino asked from his seat on the sofa as he watched Jun leaning on the wall opposite with his arms stubbornly folded across his chest.  
  
“I’m fine where I am,” Jun said coldly. “Say what you have to say and then leave.”  
  
Nino was not going to let this continue, so he walked over to Jun and took him by the shoulders and steered him across to the sofa, plopping him down on the cushions before kneeling on the floor between his knees.  
  
Jun’s cheeks turned red, but he still refused to look Nino in the eye.  
  
“Jun, when you were a kid did you ever win a fish at a carnival?"  
  
“Well, yes, but…”  
  
“And how long did it live?”  
  
“I don’t really remember having a fish at home now that you mention it…” Jun said; his eyebrows scrunching together as he tried to remember.  
  
“It’s a miracle that Oh-chan lived as long as he did. You know that those fish are always sick when you get them.”  
  
“But it was still _my_ fault.”  
  
“Tipping the food in was an accident Jun, don’t beat yourself up about it. I mean, did he ever look very perky?”  
  
“Now that you mention it he was always very slow and sluggish, but I thought it was just his personality.”  
  
“You did your very best for him and I’m sure he wouldn’t have lived as long anywhere else. I’m sure he was very happy here.”  
  
“Do you really think so?” Jun asked softly. “I know he was just a fish, but he brought us together, you know?  
  
Nino felt a sudden surge of hope in his chest, “Are we still together then?”  
  
Jun looked at him for the first time, but with lowered lashes shielding his eyes from Nino’s penetrating gaze. “I’d like that very much, but only if _you_ do…”  
  
Nino rapidly closed the gap between them as he hugged Jun tightly and buried his nose into the crook of his neck. “I want that more than anything in the world.”  
  
Nino thought that perhaps now he could finally have all of Jun's attention to himself. It was a shame that Oh-chan had to sacrifice his life for this to happen, but he believed that the little fish would be happy to see them together.  
  
++++  
  
As Nino strolled into Jun's apartment a few weeks later his jaw dropped in horror as he entered the living room. Standing in the corner was a brand new hi-tech aquarium with five bright and shiny fish lining up against the glass staring at him mockingly.  
  
One was small and aggressive, constantly chasing a larger fish with beautiful flowing fins relentlessly around the tank. Another had large round eyes and was swimming carefully, closely examining every rock and shell it came across. The third fish which was of slim build with a blotch of colour on its left side was frantically swimming in dizzying circles, while the last plump fish was resting on the bottom of the tank as if dozing.  
  
"Look, we've become parents,” Jun cooed from somewhere behind Nino. "It won't be easy to bring up five children, but if we put all of our spare time into it, I'm sure we can cope."  
  
Nino's usually razor sharp mind was for once completely blank as he looked at the fish that seemed to sneer back at him disdainfully.  
  
"Of course I may have less time to look after you, and as new parents our sex life may be difficult to maintain..." Jun added.  
  
Nino spun round to face his boyfriend, still desperately looking for a way to remove the expression of horror that he could feel forming on his face and think of a way out of this nightmare scenario.  
  
Jun turned away and burst into cackles of laughter. "Don't panic. I just borrowed them from my drama set." He bent over clutching his stomach as he wheezed "The look on your face..."  
  
With a growl Nino pounced, wrestling a still giggling Jun down to the floor. Nino was going to make him pay for this treachery in many varied and interesting ways.


End file.
